The Role of the Communications Company in Using Fiber Optic Cables to Record Geophysical Signals

A New Zealand communications company is turning buried fiber optic cables that provide our internet into seismic sensors. These cables are subjected to the vibrations that are travelling through the ground and they might be produced by vehicles travelling up and down the road or by rockfalls. By shaking the cable and straining it, subjecting the cable to sort of extension and compression, it produces a pulse that we can measure using a laser. It's interesting very fascinating for seismologists like me because it sits right on top of the Alpine fault.